Actually, there are pronouncable acronyms that predate 1900 - sometimes by a
lot, just not in English. Probably the best known one being 'MAFIA'.
-----Original Message-----
From: SkunkworksAMA_at_yahoogroups.com [mailto:SkunkworksAMA_at_yahoogroups.com]
On Behalf Of chrysaetos_at_avians.net
Sent: Saturday, March 11, 2006 3:02 AM
To: SkunkworksAMA_at_yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [SkunkworksAMA] Re: Natasha, ala BondoFox 8)
Capt. Havoc wrote:
> Actually, you're both wrong, but foxie is a little bit less wrong.
> "Fuck" is derived from the German word "frichen" (sp?), which means
> "to strike" (as foxie stated in a different way. As with many foreign
> words ported to English, the pronunciation of the word was marred a
> bit. The sexual connotation came from the inevitable thrusting of sex,
> which could be described as a striking motion.
>
> I've heard another interesting theory: that fuck is actually an
> acronym. In England, the king had the ultimate authority over the law,
> even over the church. While it was against church law to have sex
> outside of marriage, the king could grant a pardon to couples who
> wished to do so. This came to be known by the acronym F.U.C.K.
> (Fornicate Under Consent of the King). Most likely just a myth, but
> still rather interesting, don't you think?
>
> -Capt. Havoc
The Straight Dope article I posted aside, I'll just note that pronounced
acronyms (like AWOL or OPEC) only started becoming popular in the middle
of this century. Before that, they preferred to take the first syllable
from each word and combine them (AMerican Oil COmpany = Amoco, for
example) or just use an abbreviation where you speak the letters, like
NRA. Before the turn of the century, even that wasn't really done.
Basically, any acronym originating before, say, 1900 at the earliest is
guaranteed to be false.
And boy, have we wandered afield...
--
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Received on Sat Mar 11 2006 - 08:56:40 CST